Over The Summer
by Sparklles
Summary: Set during the summer Buffy died between season 5&6 . How everything came to be during the summer. Between Willow&Tara moving in with Dawn, the Buffybot becomeing the new slayer and ofcourse the gang deciding to ressurect Buffy. Everything that happened
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: **Takes place during the summer that Buffy died (between season 5 and 6) How everything came to be during that summer (between Willow & Tara moving in with Dawn, the Buffybot becoming the 'slayer', Spike becoming Dawn's babysitter, and of course Willow, Xander, Tara, and Anya deciding to resurrect Buffy.)

**Authors Note: I**f you're reading my other story In Love With A Memory, I PROMISE I'll update that soon, and I'm sorry it's taking me so long. I PROMISE it will be updated. PROMISE. Again sorry.

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Willow, Xander, Giles, Tara, Dawn, and Anya arrived back at Buffy's house a few hours after everything that had happened. An ambulance had taken Buffy's body to the morgue and everyone wanted to get to Buffy's house to figure out what they were gonna do now that she was gone. Even if that was the last thing they wanted to admit out loud.

"Uh, Dawn," Tara said gaining the younger girls attention. "do you wanna go upstairs to bed, or I could make you something to eat, or..." Tara trailed off when Dawn started shaking her head.

"I don't want anything. I don't wanna sleep either." Dawn said in a monotone.

"OK, well you could.." Willow began but Dawn cut her off.

"I just, I wanna stay up, I don't think I could sleep anyway after..." She trailed off. She closed her eyes tightly trying to keep the tears from reforming in her eyes. She spent the whole ride home crying and she didn't think she could handle it anymore.

"Alright." Tara told her softly. She brought her hand up to Dawn's hair and ran her fingers though it which caused Dawn to flinch back. "I'm sorry I.." Tara looked at Dawn confused.

"Buffy, used to do that..." Dawn whispered more to herself. Tara nodded in understanding.

"Sorry." She said.

"She um...Buffy, wanted, uh she told me some stuff she wanted me to tell you all." Dawn said trying to focus on everything Buffy told her up on the tower, she was having trouble focusing on anything right now. Nobody replied, they just waited patiently for Dawn to continue. "Uh, she said..." Dawn closed her eyes and tried to replay the words in her head.

"_Buffy no."  
__"Dawnie I have to."  
"No."  
"Listen to me. Please, there's not a lot of time, listen."  
"Dawn listen to me, listen. I love you, I will always love you, but this is the work that I have to do. Tell Giles...tell Giles I figured it out. And, and I'm okay. And give my love to my friends. You have to take care of them now. You have to take care of each other. You have to be strong. Dawn, the hardest thing in this world is to live in it. Be brave. Live for me."_

Dawn reopened her eyes, letting a couple of tears fall.

"Dawn?" Xander asked, taking a step towards her. "You okay?" He asked, knowing it was a stupid question to ask in this situation. Dawn quickly wiped the tears off her face and nodded.

"She said," She began from where she left off. She turned to look at Giles "she wanted you to know that she figured it out...and she's okay..." Dawn trailed off. She hated thinking that Buffy was 'okay' when she was dead, but this is what Buffy wanted them to know so she continued. "And she said that she loves you, all of you." Dawn glanced at everyone else in the room. "She said we have to take care of each other now...She said, she said that this was the work she _has _to do." Dawn finished the last sentence with a bit of anger in her voice. Willow felt her eyes well up with tears. She put a comforting hand on Dawn's arm but Dawn shrugged her away. "I'll be in my room." Dawn told them quietly before walking up the staircase. Everyone walked into the dining room and took a seat around the table.

"This all feels like a bad dream." Xander said. "I mean first Joyce and now..."

"Poor Dawnie." Tara commented. Xander nodded in agreement.

"I don't even wanna begin to imagine what she's going through. I mean she lost her mom and sister in just a few months." Xander replied.

"Yeah, and to top it all off, having to deal with knowing that it's all her fault." Anya commented and Willow glared at her.

"It's not her fault." Willow bit out angrily. Anya sighed.

"I'm sorry." She said sincerely. "I didn't mean it was Dawn's fault, I know it isn't. You know it isn't. I'm just saying that If she had never been this key, or gotten kidnapped, or if she had jumped off the tower instead of Buffy then Buffy would be here and..."

"Anya." Xander cut her off, knowing Willow was getting madder with each word.

"What I mean is, it's not Dawns fault." Anya assured everyone "But, if you were in her situation, wouldn't you be blaming yourself?" Anya asked. Willow sighed and nodded.

"I guess.."

"Well whatever Dawn is going through, we'll all be here to help her through it, of course." Giles said, speaking up for the first time since they saw Buffy's body. Willow nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, speaking of which, where is Dawn gonna live? I mean somebody has to watch her." Xander said.

"Well we can move in here and stay with her." Willow said, turning to Tara. Tara nodded.

"Yeah, I'm sure she wouldn't mind." Tara said, Xander shook his head.

"That's not what I meant, I mean yeah obviously we're all here and willing to take care of her but...what if her dad wants to take her away?" He asked looking around the table. By the looks on everyones faces he could see that nobody had thought of that yet.

"That is a possibility." Giles stated "We could talk to Dawn about this, she might want to go live with her father."

"Yeah but what if she doesn't?" Willow asked "He can't take her away can he? I mean if we're all here to take care of her it should be okay right?" Willow asked, hopefully.

"I don't know, he might not want his daughter under the care of a bunch of strangers."

"Yeah but we're not strangers!" Willow said. Giles shook his head.

"To Dawn, to Buffy and Joyce but to Hank? He might not allow it." He said, Willow frowned.

"Well what if we didn't tell him?" Anya asked, trying to help. Willow rolled her eyes.

"Can you _ever_ say something appropriate?" She asked Anya, annoyed.

"What?" Anya asked innocently. She didn't understand why that was inappropriate.

"We can't just not tell him that his daughter is dead." Willow told her harshly.

"Actually, that might work..." Xander said, getting a thought. Willow looked at him.

"How could that possibly work? She's gone, what if he calls here and wants to talk to Buffy, are you gonna give the phone to her ghost?" Willow asked. She frowned, she knew she shouldn't sound so harsh right now but she was just angry at the situation.

"What if you got the head back on the Buffybot?" Xander asked. Giles let out an agitated sigh.

"You can not honestly be suggesting what I think you're suggesting" He said annoyed.

"Well I mean, minus the whole 'yay Spike' routine the thing has going on, it's convincing enough as Buffy." Xander told them. Giles rolled his eyes.

"It's a metal _thing!_ And I hardly believe that Dawn, or any of us for that matter are gonna wanna have to see some fake machine walking around with Buffy's face attached to it!" He said and his words got louder with each word to the point of yelling.

"Giles." Willow said a little nervous that he was about to throw Xander through a wall or something. Giles calmed down a bit at the concerned tone in Willow's voice. Everyone remained silent as Giles continued to calm down. He thought about it for a few minutes. He thought about the effects that Buffy's death might have on not only them but the world. A world without a Vampire Slayer.

"I'm sorry.." Xander apologized after several minutes of silence. "I just figured-" He began to explain but was cut off by Giles.

"Buffy is gone." Giles stated. Everyone stared at him. "Perhaps the Buffybot...Perhaps it isn't such a horrible idea." He stated. Willow stared at him in disbelief.

"What do you mean?" Willow asked hesitantly.

"The last thing I want is to see that..._thing_...walking around and pretending to be Buffy..." He trailed off.

"But?" Willow asked, not believing these words were coming out of Giles' mouth.

"But, if the demon world somehow finds out that there's no slayer then, well lord knows what kind of havoc will take place." Giles explained. Willow shook her head vigorously.

"No. A new slayer will be called, that's not an issue Giles." She told him.

"No one will be called. Buffy already died at the hands of the Master. Kendra was called as her replacement, and once Kendra died Faith was called. The slayer line runs through Faith now." Giles explained to them.

"And Faiths in jail." Xander stated. Giles nodded.

"So we're using the robot then?" Anya asked, not really understanding anything Giles was talking about. Willow hoped Giles would say no but frowned when he nodded.

"I don't see that we have much of a choice. Not now anyway." He said sadly.

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_To Be Continued. So, like? Dislike? Review. =)_


	2. Chapter 2

"Xander." Giles called, as Xander prepared to leave the Summers' home with Anya. Not wanting to wait around, Anya made her way out of the house to wait in the car as Xander turned back to Giles and waited for him to continue talking. "Before you go home I was wondering if you could stop some place first." Giles told him. Xander nodded.

"Sure, where's that?" He asked.

"Well I was hoping you could stop by Spike's crypt." Giles told him, and Xander frowned.

"I really don't wanna deal with captain peroxide right now, Giles." He told him slightly angry.

"I know. Believe me, none of us do. However until Willow gets the robot working again I was thinking we might need somebody to patrol in Buffy's place. Temporarily of course." Giles explained. Xander shook his head.

"No! Spike of all people.." Xander paused "of all _things_" he corrected himself, saying 'things' with a hint of disgust in his voice "Is not going to replace Buffy! Not in anything. We can patrol. Willow, Tara, Anya, you and me." Xander told him, getting angrier with each word.

"Spike is a vampire. He might be a little more equipped to fight then we are." Giles informed him. Xander rolled his eyes about to protest again but Giles continued before he could "Spike isn't going to replace Buffy" Giles assured Xander.

"Nobody can replace Buffy." Xander stated quietly. Giles nodded in agreement.

"However, for the time being, under the circumstances, he could possibly be of some use." Giles told him. Xander sighed, deciding not to argue about it. Giles seemed pretty adamant on this decision, and he did have a point, after all. Nodding his head in defeat, Xander agreed and left the Summers' home.

Spike was pacing back and forth in his now trashed crypt. He had decided that the most logical way to deal with Buffy's death would be by throwing every inanimate object he could find, across the room. He jumped, slightly startled by the sound of somebody opening the door to his crypt. He glanced over to the doorway to see Xander walking in.

"What do you want?" He asked harshly, stopping his pacing to glare at him. Xander looked around the crypt, noticing the giant mess and numerous broken objects. He raised his eyebrows and looked back at Spike.

"Redecorating?" He asked sarcastically. Spike rolled his eyes, losing his patience.

"What do you want?" He asked again, just as harshly but slower this time. Xander sighed, and decided to get straight to the point of his visit.

"Well, Willow is gonna try to fix the Buffybot, to patrol and stuff since Buffy can't...." Xander trailed off at the look of anger Spike shot his way at the mention of Buffy being gone. "Uh...Well, Giles thought that until then, you could take over patrolling for a while." Xander paused, waiting for Spike to respond. When he didn't Xander decided to continue. "It's just that you're a vampire and strong..."

"Why are you putting the bot back together?" Spike asked, suddenly. "Are you trying to replace her?" He asked angrily. "Just put some batteries in the thing and pretend that Buffy never died? Pretend that, that robot is her?" He asked, yelling now. Xander took a few steps back from Spike, figuring he wouldn't let the chip in his head stop him right now if he wanted to get violent.

"We're not trying to replace her." Xander told him. Spike just shook his head in anger.

"Get out." He demanded, turning away from him.

"Think about it." Xander told him.

"Get out!" Spike yelled at the top of his lungs. Xander turned to leave but turned back to look at Spike before leaving.

"You know Buffy wanted you to come with us because she thought you would be useful in helping protect Dawn from Glory. For some reason beyond anything I could understand she thought you could be useful in helping save the world. Me? I don't think you're useful for anything. But you claim to love her. The least you could do is prove that one of the last things she thought before she died wasn't wrong." Xander told Spike angrily before leaving, slamming the crypt door behind him. Spike felt tears prick his eyes, half in grief for Buffy and half from anger towards Xander. Letting out an angry groan he lifted up his already broken television set and threw it across the room with all his strength, causing it to smash against the wall into several pieces.

"_I'm counting on you to protect her"  
_"_Til the end of the world. Even if that happens to be tonight."_

Spike awoke from his sleep, suddenly. He had only been asleep for about ten minutes. His conversation with Buffy just kept replaying in his head. Her inviting him back into her house, him promising to protect Dawn. He scoffed at himself. Some job he did protecting Dawn. If he had tried harder then Buffy wouldn't have... He couldn't even bring himself to think it. To say the word even in his head. To admit to himself that she was gone. That she was dead. If he had just gotten Dawn off of that tower when he was up there, Buffy would still be alive. Wanting to get his mind off of her, Spike decided to go out and patrol after all. Figuring maybe killing something would make him feel better, as it always did.

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**Sorry I took so long to get this chapter up. I'll try to be quicker. Anyway review please. =)**


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